Christina Lu
@christinalu.bsky.social
energy and environment reporter @foreignpolicy.com // say hi at christina.lu@foreignpolicy.com
Billions of dollars are being pumped into a global critical minerals boom, and resource-rich countries are eager to come out on top. My deep dive for @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/02/c...
The World’s Mineral Powers Seize Their Moment
Resource-rich countries haven’t always benefited from extraction. Can this time be different?
foreignpolicy.com
Pleased to have the opportunity to comment here on the long road ahead in wresting control of the rare earth suply chain from China. Thanks @christinalu.bsky.social foreignpolicy.com/2026/05/12/t...
China’s Rare-Earth Card Looms Over Trump-Xi Summit
For all of the U.S. leader’s efforts, Washington remains deeply vulnerable.
foreignpolicy.com
As Trump seeks to loosen China’s grip on critical mineral supply chains, there has been a flurry of trade deals that exclude both Beijing and Washington, writes FP’s @christinalu.bsky.social.
The New Critical Minerals Map
Fears of Chinese and U.S. trade retaliation have spawned deals that exclude both powers.
foreignpolicy.com
Qatar produces a third of the world's helium—more than any country except the United States. Iran's recent strike on its largest gas field threatens to cause a domino effect on global semiconductor supplies. With @christinalu.bsky.social for @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/27/i...
The Hormuz Hit to Helium
The Iran war is choking off a critical input for chipmaking and AI infrastructure.
foreignpolicy.com
I wrote about how the Iran war is wreaking havoc on an obscure sector that is more important than you’d think @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/17/i...
The Iran War Comes for the ‘King of Chemicals’
The conflict is wreaking havoc on an obscure sector that is more important than you’d think.
foreignpolicy.com
There's no shortage of news in the world, but taking a quick break for a Very Important Pupdate: Meet Luka!* *named after Doncic or Modric, depending on your preferred sport.
Soaring energy prices aren’t the only costs that communities worldwide will bear from the Iran war. The conflict is also coming for food. @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/24/i...
The Iran War Is Coming for Your Grocery Bill
Prices won’t just be higher at the pump.
foreignpolicy.com
Very excited to share that we're launching a monthly newsletter @foreignpolicy.com to showcase our growing Books coverage, including criticism, excerpts, curated reading lists, and an international fiction column. Sign up for FP Bookshelf here:
Bookshelf Politics, Relations & Current Affairs – Foreign Policy
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NEW: I have an essay in the 2026 Winter Print Issue @foreignpolicy.com released this week, which examines "The World Minus One" emergence of a post-American global order. foreignpolicy.com/the-magazine...
FP’s Winter 2026 Print Magazine: The World Minus One
foreignpolicy.com
"Yet the U.S. industry remains deeply dependent on foreign know-how to grow its own sector[...]" To file under today's set of phrases that concisely express how much we are *not* in Kansas any more. by @christinalu.bsky.social also via @adamtooze.bsky.social
Trump’s Hyundai Raid Drains U.S. Battery Brains
The United States can’t build the powerful technologies on its own.
foreignpolicy.com
The United States is publicly and privately pressuring the World Bank and other institutions to boost fossil fuel lending and turn away from green energy efforts, FP’s @christinalu.bsky.social reports.
Trump Takes His Fossil Fuel Crusade Global
The U.S. leader is pressuring the world to abandon climate action. Will it work?
foreignpolicy.com
For all the Trump-Modi bonhomie, Trump's crackdown on international students coming to the U.S. will disproportionately hurt India. It'll also (per last year's numbers) result in a $44 billion hit to the U.S. economy. Great reporting by @christinalu.bsky.social foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/30/t...
Trump wants to choke off incoming flows of international students—a group that has long driven scientific innovation in America and pumped tens of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy. @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/30/t...
Who Pays the Price in Trump’s Crusade Against Universities?
International students have pumped billions of dollars into the U.S. economy.
foreignpolicy.com
In 2021, China joined the Kigali Agreement, and pledged to stop emitting HFC-23, a climate super pollutant 14,700x stronger than CO2. The latest atmospheric readings show China is way off track, @mckennapr.bsky.social & I report in our deep dive: foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/21/c...
China Claims It Slashed Emissions of a Major Super Pollutant. The Data Says Otherwise.
As of 2023, China continued to emit HFC-23 at high levels in violation of an international agreement.
foreignpolicy.com
Trump last week signed an executive order that would fast-track efforts to exploit key minerals in both national and international waters, citing the defense of a “core national security and economic interest,” FP’s @christinalu.bsky.social reports.
Trump’s Brazen Push to Mine the Ocean Floor
The U.S. leader could pave the way for a gold rush in international waters.
foreignpolicy.com
Trump has officially jump-started U.S. efforts to mine the seafloor, pitching the US into the center of a contentious debate that has sparked fears of a race to the bottom in the world's oceans @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2025/04/28/t...
Trump’s Risky Push to Mine the Ocean Floor
The U.S. leader could pave the way for a gold rush in international waters.
foreignpolicy.com
Nothing says winning like blowing up all your own markets. Farmers must be thrilled. Great piece from @christinalu.bsky.social foreignpolicy.com/2025/04/04/t...
American Farmers Brace for Trade War Pain
The U.S. agricultural sector remains highly vulnerable to retaliation.
foreignpolicy.com
As top U.S. trading partners strike back against Trump’s expanding and increasingly aggressive trade war, American farmers are all but certain to be caught in the middle. @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2025/04/04/t...
American Farmers Brace for Trade War Pain
The U.S. agricultural sector remains highly vulnerable to retaliation.
foreignpolicy.com
. @kfj-fp.bsky.social has the rundown on Liberation Day and its sweeping implications. w/ assists from me and @christinalu.bsky.social foreignpolicy.com/2025/04/02/t...
Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Brings Even Bigger Tariffs Than Expected
Double-digit tariffs on nearly every trading partner will likely spark reprisals.
foreignpolicy.com
Trump’s escalating trade war with Canada, Mexico, and China is also roiling one of his key voter bases: American farmers. My latest for @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/19/t...
Trump’s Trade War Roils a Key Voter Base
American farmers risk becoming “collateral damage” of the U.S. president’s go-to foreign-policy tool.
foreignpolicy.com
One explanation for Trump’s unprecedented push to annex Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal and extort Ukraine is securing rare earth minerals and a supply chain free from China’s control writes @christinalu.bsky.social. Where prior administrations used diplomacy, Trump relies on blunt force.
Trump’s Chaotic Agenda Has a Critical Through Line
What do Greenland, Canada, and Ukraine have in common? Critical minerals.
foreignpolicy.com
Few news stories or pieces can capture the unbelievable White House exchange between Trump, Vance, and Zelensky today as well as simply reading it in their own words. @anusharathi.bsky.social and @christinalu.bsky.social have you covered for @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/28/t...
Read Trump and Zelensky’s Fiery Oval Office Exchange
The meeting caps weeks of tense relations between Kyiv and Washington as they wrangle a deal.
foreignpolicy.com
Most reviews of Oscar nominee "September 5" have focused on its depictions of crisis reporting or Israel-Palestine. But I argue that the film offers an equally keen look at German identity formation after World War II, particularly with regard to defense and military readiness.
‘September 5’ and the Pitfalls of German Idealism
The Munich Olympics massacre still echoes in the country’s security debates.
foreignpolicy.com
“We had an almost identical, sort of hyperbolic discussion in the media about the minerals and metals under the ground in Afghanistan,” Bazilian told @christinalu.bsky.social, describing the Ukraine hype as “largely a red herring.” foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/26/t...
Trump’s Chaotic Agenda Has a Critical Through Line
What do Greenland, Canada, and Ukraine have in common? Critical minerals.
foreignpolicy.com
Exclusive: The Nature Conservancy was told by @noaa.gov it had to use “Gulf of America” or lose its federal funding, according to a leaked email and memo sent to all staff this morning cc @heatmap.news heatmap.news/climate/natu...
Nature Conservancy Told to Say ‘Gulf of America’ or Lose Federal Funding
A leaked internal memo reveals why the environmental group adopted President Trump’s new name.
heatmap.news
What do Canada, Greenland, Panama, and Ukraine really have in common? My latest for @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/26/t...
Trump’s Chaotic Agenda Has a Critical Through Line
What do Greenland, Canada, and Ukraine have in common? Critical minerals.
foreignpolicy.com
If Trump’s minerals extortion of Ukraine is confusing to you, imagine how confusing it is to people who know this stuff. For starters, there are none, not of what Trump seems to believe he thinks he is after. (1/5)
Ukraine does not actually produce any rare earths now, nor has it produced any supplies in recent decades—casting doubt over what a potential deal could actually achieve. @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/20/t...
Where Does the U.S.-Ukraine Rare-Earth Deal Stand?
The prospect of an agreement looks increasingly uncertain.
foreignpolicy.com
